Fly Me to the Moon
by EternallyLost
Summary: Most of the Naruto cast is sent off to a foreign country for a mission that may take more than half a year. How will they adapt, learn, and grow in their time away from Konoha?


Fly Me to the Moon

A Naruto fanfiction project by EternallyLost

All concepts, original characters, and ideas are copyrighted to EternallyLost, all rights reserved.

All concepts, characters, and ideas introduced in the Naruto manga are copyrighted to Masashi Kishimoto.

-----

Act One

New Moon

-----

"I'm surprised they actually managed to pull this off without violence," the fifth Hokage stated, dropping the report onto her desk. There were a lot of other important papers there, many from weeks beforehand and yet to be signed, but the one she had was more important than all the rest combined.

"It took a tremendous effort for both sides," Ibiki stated. "But it was successful."

The woman sighed, running a hand through her light hair. "I imagine matters will be very delicate in the area."

"You read the report," was Ibiki's response.

"They're asking a lot of us." Tsunade sighed, looking down at her desk. "I don't know if we can spare those kind of resources, especially over such a long period of time."

"It's your decision," came the reply from ANBU's interrogation head.

The Hokage slammed her hand on her desk, which let out a groan of protest. It was under enough strain from the clutter atop it, it didn't need a hit from somebody of the Hokage's strength atop that. "It's not up to me, though!" She scowled. "You know that. I don't have much choice but to accept this mission for the village. The situation can call for no other actions."

"Can we afford to spare the Jounin from our village?" Ibiki asked, bringing up the point. "This'll need at least three of them."

Tsunade nodded in confirmation. "If their backup is composed mainly on Genin, instead of Chuunin, we should be able to handle the loss."

Ibiki gave a half-hearted smile. "You think that'll work?"

"I'll think of a way."

-----

That afternoon saw a fourteen year-old Chuunin lying on his back, gazing up at the clouds. Shikamaru Nara rarely did much else, unless forced on assignment.

Well, that wasn't quite true. He was, in truth, almost always with Team 10, his former team of Genin, helping them train or going along on their missions. Although not a part of the team on paper, Shikamaru couldn't leave Asuma alone with the likes of Ino and Chouji. It'd drive the poor man insane. At least, that was his excuse. Truth was, the Chuunin simply wasn't ready to move on from his friends.

But, for now, he was content to lie back and watch the clouds. The grass of the park was green. The trees were nearby, providing atmosphere but not distracting from the sky. The sky was blue. The clouds were many. It was a good day.

"Hey, Shikamaru."

The boy groaned. It figured, didn't it?

He sat up and looked over to the figure that was addressing him. The white hair, face mask, and head protector covering a single eye gave away that the man was Kakashi Hatake, the infamous Copy Ninja.

"Kakashi?" Shikamaru asked. Why the hell was Kakashi there? "Why the hell are you here?"

The Jounin shrugged. "The Hokage told me to come get you, so I did."

The shadow manipulator felt his eyebrow twitch. "And why does the Hokage want me?"

"Meeting," was the man's simple reply.

"When is the meeting scheduled?"

Shikamaru couldn't tell, but he would swear Kakashi was smiling. "An hour ago."

Standing up and showing energy for perhaps the first time in his life, Shikamaru shook the man. "And why did you take so long coming here?!"

"I had to help an old lady across the street," Kakashi answered.

Shikamaru groaned. He could see why Team 7 always complained about their Jounin instructor.

Said instructor gripped Shikamaru by the shoulder. "Don't throw a tantrum. I'll get us there in less time that it takes to shout for your mother." He was definitely smiling when he said that.

"Eh?"

-----

A flurry of leaves and a burst of wind marked Kakashi's trademark entrance through teleportation.

The fifth Hokage wasn't pleased to find her office full of leaves and scattered papers, but she hid it well, aside from the twitching of her eye.

"Sorry we're late," Kakashi said, shoving Shikamaru forward a bit. "Before I could get the kid, I ran into a child separated from his mother, so I had to help him find her."

"I thought you said you were helping an old lady," the Chuunin grumbled.

"That's all right," a voice said from their left. The late pair turned to see Genma Shiranui and Asuma Sarutobi, the first of which had spoken. His toothpick leaned upward as he grinned. "You're just on time."

Kakashi's eyes bugged out. "What?"

"I gave you a time one hour earlier than you were supposed to arrive," the Hokage explained, feeling good about pulling one over on the Copy Ninja.

The white-haired man felt strangely let down. His usual entrance was ruined!

"What's this all about, anyway?" Shikamaru wondered, wishing in his head to be somewhere else. Still, calling a Chuunin along with three Jounin wasn't something that happened very often and he felt the need to know what was going on.

"Yes, what exactly is going on?" Asuma asked. He was pleased to see his former student, Shikamaru, with them, but none of that answered what they had been called in for. Asuma had been forced to cancel a class A mission for this meeting. That didn't sit well with him.

Tsunade took her seat at her desk. "I take it none of you know what's been going on in the Wind Country."

Shikamaru cleared his throat, drawing the attention in the room to him. "You mean the attempted withdrawal of the coastline from the country, don't you?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the knowledge. The boy wasn't as lazy as he let on, perhaps, to be keeping tabs on the politics of the other countries. "That's right. But it's not an attempt any more, it's succeeded."

"You mean they've separated themselves from the Wind Country?" Genma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right," the Hokage continued. "They're now known as the Moon Country. Their separation was peaceful. Due to the Wind Country's declining military strength and economy, they were willing to allow it." She picked up the report from her desk. "The area of the coastline is vastly different from the desert that makes up most of the Wind Country. This difference is what sparked the Moon Country to leave the Wind."

"And how does this lead to why we're here?" Shikamaru asked, voicing the question the Jounin weren't asking.

The fifth Hokage sighed. "The Moon Country will be a decent-sized nation. Not as large as the Fire or Wind Countries, but larger than the Wave, Rain, or Waterfall Countries. Countries as large as it need to have a ninja village, or they'll be easy pickings for their neighbors."

Kakashi nodded. "That's a good point." For once he was paying attention, not reading the latest porn novel.

"This leads us to your mission." Tsunade sighed. "This will likely be the longest mission any of you have ever had, and a more important one than many." Holding up the report, she continued. "Without their own ninja force, this country will be gone as soon as it forms. So we're doing an unprecedented favor. We'll be sending our own ninjas, and a good number of them, to form a temporary ninja base in their country. We need to send a number of Jounin, you three," she then gave a pointed look to Genma, Asuma, and Kakashi, "to handle any A class or S class missions."

"You're sending us to form another ninja village?" Shikamaru asked, amazed by the request.

"A base. It'll be located in the capital city of the new country." The light-haired woman sighed. "It'll only be until they can establish their own ninja village."

"How long will that be?" Kakashi asked.

"Half a year," was the reply. "Maybe more."

"Whoa," Asuma spoke up, waving one of his hands. "You want me to leave my Genin team alone for more than half a year?"

"No," Tsunade replied. "In fact, the majority of your ninja force will be composed of Genin. Among them will be your team."

"Why use so many Genin?" Shikamaru asked.

"The same reason I only let you use Genin to hunt down Sasuke last year. We can't afford to send out a lot of Chuunin, and I'm pushing it by letting so many of our Jounin go." The fifth Hokage gave a sad smile. "This is the only way to make it work."

"So who exactly is going with us?" Genma asked. This was a major mission; he wanted to know who his teammates were.

Tsunade smiled. "I've already sent for them. They ought to be waiting for us in the conference room."

The group of five made their way to the conference room. Sure enough, a myriad of Genin was there, waiting.

"Oi, old lady!" Naruto cried, waving his hand to get Tsunade's attention. Next to him, Jiraiya and Sakura sighed at his antics.

"Shika!" Ino shouted, catching sight of the Chuunin.

Chouji gave his friend a wave as he snacked on some potato chips.

Shikamaru tried his best to pretend he didn't hear the girl as he sat down on the stage in front of the room, where Tsunade gave her announcements. The three Jounin also took seats, while Tsunade stood in front of them all.

The Hokage cleared her throat. "I'm sure you're all wondering what sort of mission you've been called in for." She noticed several people, like Tenten, Rock Lee, Sakura, and Kiba, nodding in their seats. "We've assembled a force large enough to qualify as a small ninja village."

"You've got that right," Kiba muttered, looking over all the people in the room. He and Akamaru were almost in sensory overload with all the smells in the room. Ino smelled of the flowers from her family shop. Neji smelled like sweat, no doubt from a workout before arrival. There were too many people crammed in the room for his liking.

The leader of the Hidden Leaf continued. "There's a reason for that. I'm sending you all to do exactly that; maybe not start a new ninja village, but a ninja base at least."

There was an uproar from the whole Genin crowd, with the exceptions of Shino, Hinata, and Neji. They were all shouting questions and demands, wondering what the Hokage was talking about.

"Silence!" Jiraiya shouted from his seat next to Naruto, silencing all the Genin immediately. It was loud and carried a great deal of authority. He had been requested by Tsunade to give Naruto back to Konoha, and he wanted to know exactly why.

"Thank you," Tsunade muttered. "Now, in order to understand, you need to understand the situation." A brief summary on the condition of the Moon Country followed, along with the mission details. It took about ten minutes, and afterwards the Hokage lowered her head. "I can't force any of you to go," she said.

"Really?" Shikamaru said, standing up. Unfortunately (for the Chuunin at least,) Asuma grabbed the back of the boy's vest and pulled him back down into his seat.

The Hidden Leaf leader continued, undaunted by Shikamaru's antics. "But there is a good incentive for you to go." She looked up, meeting the eyes of all the gathered Genin. "Every one of you who accept will receive the rank of Chuunin at the completion of the mission."

"Chuunin, huh?" Shino muttered to himself.

Sakura nodded to herself. To become better, to rescue Sasuke, she'd go any lengths. A step to Chuunin was a step in the right direction. Besides, this way she'd get to put Tsunade's training to good use.

Nearby, Ino's thoughts were much the same.

Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "I'll do it!" he cried.

Hinata tapped her fingers together. If Naruto was going, she'd go too.

Akamaru barked his assent from Kiba's coat. The boy was grinning himself. No way he'd miss this.

Chouji paused in his eating. It looked like Shikamaru was being roped into going, whether he liked it or not. The overweight boy had to tag along, to help his best friend in his time of need.

Neji nodded. It sounded interesting, and it'd be a good alternative to the normal Chuunin exams.

Rock Lee was crying tears of joy, happy at having a chance to prove himself and his ninja way. It was perfect!

Tenten glanced over and saw the looks of determination on her teammates' faces. She decided she'd have to tag along.

None of the Genin even needed time to consider it.

"While you're in the Moon Country, you're not going to be able to spend time with your teams. There won't be enough ninjas for that luxury. In fact, many of you will be sent on missions of C ranks, possibly alone. Even B rank missions will be a possibility, if you're unlucky." The Hokage smiled down at the Genin. "But I also have faith in you, that you'll be able to handle the situations." Sighing, she continued. "If you're going, then meet by the gates tomorrow at 9 AM sharp." The Hokage looked over the group of people. She could tell by the looks on their faces that everybody would be leaving. She'd miss them all, though some more than others. Her gaze rested extra long on Naruto. "You'll be leaving by bus. Normally we'd allow you to walk, but that won't be possible with the luggage you'll likely be taking."

The Genin nodded. They'd be there tomorrow.

"Dismissed."

-----

The next morning came quickly for Naruto Uzumaki. He couldn't believe what he was about to go out and do. Grinning, the boy quickly packed what he needed. That consisted of about four changes of clothes and a month's supply of instant ramen, all shoved into a single duffel bag. It was more than he'd taken on his trip with Jiraiya, which was cut short by this change in plans.

Thinking a bit, the blond ninja threw in some more ramen.

He looked around, making sure he wasn't leaving anything behind. Truth was, Naruto didn't have much of value. All he really cared for was the necklace Tsunade gave him, which he was wearing.

Deciding he was just wasting time, Naruto left his room, never looking back. He didn't care if he didn't see the room for six months, a year, or more. All that mattered to him were his friends and his way of the ninja. The first of which were accompanying him, the second he always carried with him.

The whiskered teen was halfway to his destination when he ran into a familiar face sitting on a bench. "Sakura!" he greeted his teammate warmly.

"Naruto," the pink-haired girl muttered in annoyance. She sighed. Well, this was the first time she really had to talk with Naruto. It'd been almost a year since he left with Jiraiya. Maybe she should be nicer to him...

But, on the other hand...

The girl smirked. "Naruto, you think you could give me a hand with my luggage?"

"Sure!" the boy immediately agreed. And immediately regretted...

-----

Near the other end of town, in a moderately sized house, a conversation of not-so-epic proportions was occurring.

"And did you make sure you got some extra underwear?" Kenshi Inuzuka asked her younger brother, her mouth turned up in a grin, telling just how much she enjoyed torturing her sibling.

"Kenshi!" the younger ninja cried. "Stop asking stuff like that!" He snorted. "You're acting like mom."

Kiba's older sister pinched his cheek, causing Kiba to back away. With a grin, she said, "With mom gone on a mission, somebody has to do it!" It didn't hurt that it was so fun, either.

The fanged boy glared at his sister. "I'll be leaving now."

His sister grinned, waving to her brother. "Have a fun trip, bro. Bring back plenty of souvenirs!"

The boy grinned. "Will do, sis." He threw his duffel bag over his shoulder and bounded out the doorway. "Come on, Akamaru!"

The dog barked happily, taking off after his master.

The two bounded along the rooftops of Konoha, heading in the general direction of the gates. That's not exactly where they were heading, though. Instead, they were veering a bit to the right, just on course to arrive somewhere else.

The Hyuga mansion was large and foreboding, at least to most people. Kiba and Akamaru were unimpressed, however. Instead they simply leapt over the gate and waltzed up to the front door.

Rapping on the wooden monstrosity with the back of his hand, Kiba called out. "Yo, Hinata! I'm here!"

Almost immediately the door opened, though it wasn't Hinata who greeted the dog taming ninja.

"Kiba," Neji greeted. "Are you here for my cousin?"

"That's why I was callin'," Kiba muttered.

Neji nodded. "She'll be out in a moment. Then we can accompany her to the gates."

Kiba narrowed his eyes, cursing mentally. He was hoping for some alone time with Hinata... "You're coming too?"

"Yes."

Kiba would've commented some more, but that's the time Hinata made her appearance. She was dressed as she normally was and struggling to bring her pack. It was only a single bag, but it was quite a bit larger than Kiba's.

"Oi, you need some help?" Kiba asked immediately, rushing over to Hinata. She protested weakly, but he simply threw the bag over his shoulder. It was quite heavy, but nothing the leaf ninja couldn't handle.

"Thank you," she said, looking down at her feet.

"No problem," Kiba replied with a grin. Akamaru barked happily from the fanged boy's feet.

"Let's get going, else we'll be late." Neji was, as usual, the picture of seriousness.

"We have plenty of time." Kiba's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Neji looked nonplussed. "Best to be on the safe side."

Before the group could leave, however, the head of the Hyuga clan came out of the door. Hiashi had a large grin on his face. "Neji, Hinata."

Both young teens turned their heads to the man, the trainer for both Neji and Hinata.

"F, father?" Hinata looked at her father, wondering why he was here. He had said his good-byes in private earlier.

The white-eyed man looked at his daughter and nephew. "I have something for the two of you before you go." Seeing the curious look on both of their faces, he reached into the folds of his outfit, drawing two scrolls. "These are some... ah, special techniques. They're actually two parts of the same technique, but both of you are required to learn it in order to unleash its effects."

"Neat," Kiba said as the elder Hyuga handed each of the Hyuga children a scroll. "Hey, guys, open them! Let's see this technique!"

Hiashi coughed into his fist. "Actually, I'd rather you didn't open them now. Wait until you're settled down in the Moon Country, when you have plenty of spare time to learn the technique properly."

"All right," Neji replied, slipping the scroll into his pack. Next to him, Hinata simply stored hers in her kunai pouch.

"Now get going." Hiashi made a shooing motion with his hands. "Don't want to be late, after all."

Kiba and Akamaru trotted off in the lead, Neji trailing behind him, and Hinata in the very back, waving goodbye to her father as she ran.

Hiashi waved to his daughter as she turned a corner and was out of sight. He sighed. Maybe he'd see about getting transferred to the Moon Country later.

-----

Jiraiya sighed from his perch on top of a building, watching Naruto walk off, lugging around the pink-haired girl's luggage. He had said goodbye to his pupil last night, but watching him set off on his own didn't settle right with him. They were just beginning to make real progress in his training.

Well, this way he'd get real world experience as a ninja, Jiraiya thought to himself. While he didn't know if Naruto would be able to make it back within half a year, it surely wouldn't take more than 9 months. Then he could begin training Naruto again, a more experienced Naruto. It was probably best for the boy.

As he leapt off the building and onto the street below, he spotted another leaf Genin heading toward the rendezvous point. Deciding he had time to spare, the frog sennin made his way over. "Hello. Shino, wasn't it?"

The Aburame clan's young member looked over to the legendary ninja. "Ah, good morning, Sir Jiraiya."

"Just Jiraiya will do," the elder man said with a wave of his hand. "You're off to the Moon Country, then?"

"I believe all the Genin accepted the mission," the bug manipulator replied simply.

Jiraiya groaned. "You're a boy of few words, just like your father." The ninja shook his head. "But at any rate, do you believe you'll be ready for what lies ahead?"

Shino nodded once. "More than some of the people going, I'm sure." Images of Ino and Tenten flashed through his mind, both of whom had lagged far behind the other ninjas, who were all pushing themselves their hardest, even Sakura and Hinata.

Just as he thought of her, Tenten appeared, coming around a corner. Rock Lee was following behind her, talking about the latest training methods that Gai had imparted before he left.

"Well, I'll be off, then." Before Jiraiya took off, he gave Shino one last piece of advice. "Look after Naruto for me, would ya? I'm not going to be able to check on him much, so it'll be good to know a level-headed guy like you is looking out for him."

Shino thought it over a bit, but came to a decision quickly. "I'll be sure to keep an eye on him, Jiraiya."

"Thanks." The toad sennin bounded off onto the rooftops just as Tenten and Rock Lee noticed Shino.

"Ah, Shino!" Rock Lee waved enthusiastically, rushing up to meet his fellow Genin. "Are you off to the town gates as well?"

"Yes," the boy responded calmly. "Do you want to accompany me?"

"Indeed!" Rock Lee said, pumping his fist in the air. "We can talk and improve our teamwork through conversation!"

The boy in the coat nodded. "Sounds good."

-----

Shikamaru was almost in a daze as he made his way through the streets of Konoha. He had a personal meeting with the Hokage before setting off for the bus, and her words had shocked him.

"Shikamaru, I know this is asking a lot... but out of all the people going, you are by far the most suitable for this task, even more than the Jounin. So that is why I'm appointing you the leader of the mission. You'll be the one giving all the orders in the Moon Country, and I expect all the others to obey, even the Jounin."

It did make a certain sense, he supposed. The Jounin would always be sent on high-ranking missions, and there would likely be times when all three were gone. But, still, he couldn't see himself being leader of something of such magnitude.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

The shadow manipulator turned his head, spotting the person who had shouted.

Chouji was nearby, waving his arm in the air.

"Hey," the Chuunin replied, walking over to his friend. "On your way to the rendezvous point?"

"Of course," the overweight boy replied with a grin. "Somebody's gotta keep those other people from overrunning you with work!"

Shikamaru's mind thought back to the previous conversation with Tsunade. "I think that's going to happen, anyway." Grinning suddenly, he started walking off. "Come on, I'll bet Ino's still getting ready. Let's go pick her up on the way."

"Sure thing," Chouji replied.

The two made their way toward the Yamanaka residence, where Shikamaru knocked on the door.

Ino's father, Inoshi, answered. "Ah, good morning Shikamaru, Chouji. Ino's still getting ready, I'm afraid."

"I figured as much," the lazy ninja replied. "Tell her to hurry up, eh? It's close to the meeting time."

Inoshi nodded. "Of course." However, as he turned around to shout for his daughter, she came bounding down the stairs.

"Shika!" she called. "I knew you'd come here!"

Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched. "Why am I suddenly feeling as if this is a bad idea?"

Ino pulled her bags out from behind her and, with a skill borne from ninja training, she launched one each to Chouji and Shikamaru, who caught them by reflex. "You two can carry my bags now!"

"Jeez," Chouji began.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru finished.

"Let's get going!" Ino marched past her dad, who stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Ino turned back toward him. "Dad?"

Inoshi pulled his daughter into a hug. "Be careful, dear," he whispered to her. Letting go, he cleared his throat. "Chouji, Shikamaru, I expect you to look over my girl when she's in the Moon Country, all right?"

Ino protested, but the two boys simply nodded.

The three quickly made their way to the city gates, which were, thankfully, a short trip from Ino's home.

When they arrived, there was a large bus waiting. Shikamaru did a quick head count, spotting every Genin that was supposed to be there. There was somebody missing, however, the Jounin Kakashi Hatake. Not surprising.

Tsunade was in front of the gathered crowd, addressing them with some last-minute details. As Shikamaru and Team 10 approached, she waved Shikamaru over. "Here he is!" she announced. "This is the one who will be leading the mission!"

"What?" somebody from the crowd, probably Kiba, asked.

Shikamaru stood next to the Hokage. He sighed. So troublesome. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "I've been elected leader of this mission. That means I'll be the leader of the ninja base, and you people have to listen to me." It was kinda crude, but also straight and to the point. Just the way Shikamaru liked it.

Before anybody could protest, Tsunade continued for the boy. "This was my decision, looking at the strengths the boy possesses. He's proven himself many times since his promotion to Chuunin, and I believe him most capable of running our operations in the Moon Country."

"Sounds like a good reason to me," Asuma responded. He had total faith in his former student.

The Hokage nodded. "You can be off as soon as Kakashi arrives."

When it was all said and done, they were lucky they only had to wait an hour.

-----

Act One

New Moon

-fin

-----

Author's Notes: This fanfic is going to be mostly character-driven. In other words, this is about the interactions between various characters. There's not going to be some deep plot. It's about how the characters of Naruto will grow when placed in a situation that forces cooperation and independence at the same time.

Wait for the next chapter.

--EternallyLost 


End file.
